Talent Michael Shapcott

Channel:

Art

Genre:

Figurative

Role:

Artist

MICHAEL SHAPCOTT– ARTIST STATEMENT

Art for me is very much a tool for self-exploration. In a way, I use my art as a personal journal of emotion that changes and evolves with me through various states of mind. I feel that we all can relate to the ups and downs we face individually and collectively as human beings. In trying to touch the deep and ever-changing truth of my own life, I hope to express a familiar and relatable emotion in those who come into contact with my work.

My feelings about myself, experiences and people from my life are the inspiration for my work, and are most often tainted with a mixture of memory, perception and imagination. Therefore, in capturing those elements in my work, I choose to mix realism with illustration.

I use symbolism to express an inner state; using water to represent a feeling of fluidity, a heron to represent self-reliance, horns to represent an instinctual type of strength. The combination of symbols in a painting usually contribute to an overall theme of the piece, such as, finding the strength to enter a new phase in my life or expressing the dynamic between two different parts of myself. One such piece showed a higher aspect of me rocking a self-critical part of me to sleep.

I also make it a point to leave an unfinished quality to my paintings. As a child, I admired the unfinished works of great artists like Leonardo DaVinci. I am still absolutely infatuated with DaVinci’s works in progress. I feel the technique allows the viewer to trace some of the steps the artist took in a paintings creation. There is a deeper humanity, an intelligence, to an unfinished painting that feels complete.

Like each moment in life leads into the next moment, each painting I create leads into the next painting. I honor each completed painting for the experience it attempted to capture in addition to recognizing it as a stepping stone for my future creations.

Fine Art/Illustration

The Jay Wright Memorial Award, Paier College of Art 2005
Paier Art Show 3rd Place in the Fine Arts Category Fall 2005 and Spring 2006
The Jay Wright Memorial Award, Paier College of Art 2007
Outstanding Achievement in the Fine Arts, Paier College of Art 2007

PUBLISHED WORK

Helix Central Connecticut State University Magazine, 2000 and 2001
New York Times article featuring the works of Nathan Lewis and students, 2006
Paier College of Art Program Catalog for 2006 - 2008

City Wide Open Studios, ArtSpace, New Haven, Connecticut 2006
John Slade Ely House, College Show, New Haven, Connecticut 2006
Chalk Walk Event, Newington, Connecticut 2006
Real Artways , Real Party, Hartford, Connecticut 2007
Downtown Milford Open Doors 2007

INDIVIDUAL ART EXHIBIT
Individual Exhibit at Coffee on Audobon, New Haven, Connecticut 2006
Individual Exhibit at Fuel, New Haven, Connecticut 2007
Individual Exhibit at Madison Art Cinema, Madison, Connecticut 2007

Music, Faces, Dreams, Memories, Happiness, People, Graffiti, Leonardo De Vinci, Ralph Steadman, and much much more that I can't seem to remember right now.